Do these creatures from the Tomb of Annihilation campaign speak Common?How to have a realistic set of languages without making adventuring prohibitively difficult?Is language tied to statistics, ability scores, and/or skill proficiencies according to the rules?From what language(s) did Common evolve?Tomb of annihilation party compositionCan you choose a dialect of a language instead of the whole language?Can Thieves' Cant be used across languages?How can sapience be determined for monsters?Is a mushroom a plant for the purposes of Speak With Plants?How can I give a Ranger advantage on a check due to Favored Enemy without spoiling the story for the player?Is this Kuo-toa homebrew race balanced?

Is it a Munchausen Number?

Will change of address affect direct deposit?

histogram using edges

Does Lawful Interception of 4G / the proposed 5G provide a back door for hackers as well?

Is there enough time to Planar Bind a creature conjured by a 1-hour-duration spell?

LocalDate.plus Incorrect Answer

Can I use my laptop, which says 240V, in the USA?

How are one-time password generators like Google Authenticator different from having two passwords?

Why in a Ethernet LAN, a packet sniffer can obtain all packets sent over the LAN?

How old is Captain America at the end of "Avengers: Endgame"?

What is the difference between "Plural" and "Mehrzahl"?

Delta TSA-Precheck status removed

How to align underlines in a cases environment

Is a vertical stabiliser needed for straight line flight in a glider?

A musical commute to work

The lexical root of the perfect tense forms differs from the lexical root of the infinitive form

As programers say: Strive to be lazy

We are two immediate neighbors who forged our own powers to form concatenated relationship. Who are we?

How do I get past a 3-year ban from overstay with VWP?

Is it a bad idea to replace pull-up resistors with hard pull-ups?

Why is it so slow when assigning a concatenated string to a variable in python?

Noob at soldering, can anyone explain why my circuit won't work?

Best species to breed to intelligence

Ubuntu won't let me edit or delete .vimrc file



Do these creatures from the Tomb of Annihilation campaign speak Common?


How to have a realistic set of languages without making adventuring prohibitively difficult?Is language tied to statistics, ability scores, and/or skill proficiencies according to the rules?From what language(s) did Common evolve?Tomb of annihilation party compositionCan you choose a dialect of a language instead of the whole language?Can Thieves' Cant be used across languages?How can sapience be determined for monsters?Is a mushroom a plant for the purposes of Speak With Plants?How can I give a Ranger advantage on a check due to Favored Enemy without spoiling the story for the player?Is this Kuo-toa homebrew race balanced?






.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty margin-bottom:0;








12












$begingroup$


There are some creatures in the plot of ToA that my players will interact with.



The problem is that their stat block says they speak only their specific language, which my players' characters don't speak.




They're Frost Giants, who normally speak only the Giant language




Is it possible for them to speak Common? Would I break some hidden or future plot point if I allow these creatures to speak Common in my ToA campaign?










share|improve this question











$endgroup$







  • 3




    $begingroup$
    Are you asking do they speak common, or are you asking can DM make them speak common? Title of your question is inconsistent with question body, please fix that.
    $endgroup$
    – Mołot
    May 7 at 11:19






  • 2




    $begingroup$
    @Mołot It seems to me like they are asking both which seems largely fine in scope to my eyes.
    $endgroup$
    – Rubiksmoose
    May 7 at 12:47










  • $begingroup$
    @Rubiksmoose it would be fine to ask both, I just believe OP should be clear he is asking both if that's the case. My vote wasn't too broad, but unclear. I do not believe it to be too broad or opinion based, I do believe a bit of clarification is needed to be sure people are answering what OP meant to ask.
    $endgroup$
    – Mołot
    May 7 at 13:07

















12












$begingroup$


There are some creatures in the plot of ToA that my players will interact with.



The problem is that their stat block says they speak only their specific language, which my players' characters don't speak.




They're Frost Giants, who normally speak only the Giant language




Is it possible for them to speak Common? Would I break some hidden or future plot point if I allow these creatures to speak Common in my ToA campaign?










share|improve this question











$endgroup$







  • 3




    $begingroup$
    Are you asking do they speak common, or are you asking can DM make them speak common? Title of your question is inconsistent with question body, please fix that.
    $endgroup$
    – Mołot
    May 7 at 11:19






  • 2




    $begingroup$
    @Mołot It seems to me like they are asking both which seems largely fine in scope to my eyes.
    $endgroup$
    – Rubiksmoose
    May 7 at 12:47










  • $begingroup$
    @Rubiksmoose it would be fine to ask both, I just believe OP should be clear he is asking both if that's the case. My vote wasn't too broad, but unclear. I do not believe it to be too broad or opinion based, I do believe a bit of clarification is needed to be sure people are answering what OP meant to ask.
    $endgroup$
    – Mołot
    May 7 at 13:07













12












12








12


1



$begingroup$


There are some creatures in the plot of ToA that my players will interact with.



The problem is that their stat block says they speak only their specific language, which my players' characters don't speak.




They're Frost Giants, who normally speak only the Giant language




Is it possible for them to speak Common? Would I break some hidden or future plot point if I allow these creatures to speak Common in my ToA campaign?










share|improve this question











$endgroup$




There are some creatures in the plot of ToA that my players will interact with.



The problem is that their stat block says they speak only their specific language, which my players' characters don't speak.




They're Frost Giants, who normally speak only the Giant language




Is it possible for them to speak Common? Would I break some hidden or future plot point if I allow these creatures to speak Common in my ToA campaign?







dnd-5e lore forgotten-realms languages tomb-of-annihilation






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited May 7 at 19:08









V2Blast

29.1k5105177




29.1k5105177










asked May 7 at 10:51









OharOhar

452112




452112







  • 3




    $begingroup$
    Are you asking do they speak common, or are you asking can DM make them speak common? Title of your question is inconsistent with question body, please fix that.
    $endgroup$
    – Mołot
    May 7 at 11:19






  • 2




    $begingroup$
    @Mołot It seems to me like they are asking both which seems largely fine in scope to my eyes.
    $endgroup$
    – Rubiksmoose
    May 7 at 12:47










  • $begingroup$
    @Rubiksmoose it would be fine to ask both, I just believe OP should be clear he is asking both if that's the case. My vote wasn't too broad, but unclear. I do not believe it to be too broad or opinion based, I do believe a bit of clarification is needed to be sure people are answering what OP meant to ask.
    $endgroup$
    – Mołot
    May 7 at 13:07












  • 3




    $begingroup$
    Are you asking do they speak common, or are you asking can DM make them speak common? Title of your question is inconsistent with question body, please fix that.
    $endgroup$
    – Mołot
    May 7 at 11:19






  • 2




    $begingroup$
    @Mołot It seems to me like they are asking both which seems largely fine in scope to my eyes.
    $endgroup$
    – Rubiksmoose
    May 7 at 12:47










  • $begingroup$
    @Rubiksmoose it would be fine to ask both, I just believe OP should be clear he is asking both if that's the case. My vote wasn't too broad, but unclear. I do not believe it to be too broad or opinion based, I do believe a bit of clarification is needed to be sure people are answering what OP meant to ask.
    $endgroup$
    – Mołot
    May 7 at 13:07







3




3




$begingroup$
Are you asking do they speak common, or are you asking can DM make them speak common? Title of your question is inconsistent with question body, please fix that.
$endgroup$
– Mołot
May 7 at 11:19




$begingroup$
Are you asking do they speak common, or are you asking can DM make them speak common? Title of your question is inconsistent with question body, please fix that.
$endgroup$
– Mołot
May 7 at 11:19




2




2




$begingroup$
@Mołot It seems to me like they are asking both which seems largely fine in scope to my eyes.
$endgroup$
– Rubiksmoose
May 7 at 12:47




$begingroup$
@Mołot It seems to me like they are asking both which seems largely fine in scope to my eyes.
$endgroup$
– Rubiksmoose
May 7 at 12:47












$begingroup$
@Rubiksmoose it would be fine to ask both, I just believe OP should be clear he is asking both if that's the case. My vote wasn't too broad, but unclear. I do not believe it to be too broad or opinion based, I do believe a bit of clarification is needed to be sure people are answering what OP meant to ask.
$endgroup$
– Mołot
May 7 at 13:07




$begingroup$
@Rubiksmoose it would be fine to ask both, I just believe OP should be clear he is asking both if that's the case. My vote wasn't too broad, but unclear. I do not believe it to be too broad or opinion based, I do believe a bit of clarification is needed to be sure people are answering what OP meant to ask.
$endgroup$
– Mołot
May 7 at 13:07










3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes


















20












$begingroup$

Winter Wolves can translate, if desired



It is indeed possible for a Frost Giant to learn common (example: Harshnag from the Storm King's Thunder adventure)



Also, I've read ToA completely, and found no instance where allowing some giants to know common will break a plot point. Conversely: plot points might be missed if the PCs cannot communicate with the Frost Giants.



The adventure seems to indicate that the Frost Giants will converse with the PCs (with no mention that this will be in a language the PCs are unlikely to understand). Since this is presented as an intentional part of the scenario, it seems like the writers likely intended for at least one of the Giants (especially Drufi, the leader) to speak Common.



Example - ToA p.64 says:




Any character who succeeds on a DC 10 Wisdom (Insight) check quickly recognizes that Drufi's clumsy questions are...




It does not mention needing to know Giant to make this roll. Other statements include




she'll try to ferret out what, if anything, the characters know about... (ToA p.64)







If they admit they've met him but can't (or won't) tell Drufi where he is, she has all the reason she needs to capture the characters and torture the information out of them. (ToA p.64)







... they might help characters who can provide useful information. They immediately attack characters who withhold information ... (ToA p.200)




Regardless, their winter wolves speak both Common and Giant, so they could serve as translators if you decide that none of the Giants speak common (ToA doesn't mention this, so it doesn't seem like the writers intended it, but it's there in the Winter Wolf Stat block...).






share|improve this answer











$endgroup$




















    1












    $begingroup$

    Both by RAW and Probably Intention They Normally Cannot



    Obviously the Stat Block says what the Stat Block says. However we can find a bit more possible evidence of intention in the introduction to another official module (flagged as spoiler because we are trying to hide the creature, not because it is a spoiler for the other module):




    We can look at the very first paragraph of the introduction to the Storm King's Thunder module, which shared some of the same design team.




    On page 7 it says:




    Because giants figure prominently in the story, at least one character
    should be able to speak and understand the Giant language.




    Obviously this is not a definitive statement on the subject, but it indicates that WotC (or at least someone there) intends for the monolingual limitations of this creature to at least sometimes provide actual encounter or story challenges. This is an assumed game mechanic mentioned in the very first paragraph of this other official WotC module, so it is probably more likely to be an indication of general WotC philosophy towards this creature's linguistic skills interacting with players as anything we are going to get.



    Changing This is Very Unlikely to Break Your Game



    Only a very poorly designed module would require not being able to communicate with a creature such as this one.



    This is because some player characters will actually speak this creature's language, either as a language they chose in character creation or as a racial ability. If the party not being able to communicate with them was central to the adventure then this would be a serious oversight. Similarly there are magic abilities which allow various sorts of communication through unknown languages, which once again is going to potentially break anything which hinges on them not speaking common.



    In the end it is the DM's choice. It eliminates a potential limitation for some parties, but it is a limitation that would frequently be absent anyway, so it can hardly break any well designed module. It is likely an intentional limitation, but not necessarily one you are interested in featuring.






    share|improve this answer











    $endgroup$








    • 2




      $begingroup$
      Can you provide more context on why a statement in one module applies to another?
      $endgroup$
      – NautArch
      May 7 at 18:13


















    1












    $begingroup$

    They do not speak Common. It would have ramifications on a plotline.



    See their Stat Block:




    Languages: Giant




    You would currently break the methods that solve the encounter by providing a solution that




    reveals intentions of the Frost Giants if the Winter Wolves aren't present (because you tried to separate the Giants from the Wolves or similar approaches).




    The ramifications of this are that you would not be able to




    gather information about the Ring of Winter that the giants seek.




    Choosing to grant the creatures the Common language may quickly solve the aspect of an ambush by a murder-hobo party or similar threats which would result in




    a combat encounter instead of a social encounter.




    On the behaviour and interaction, see ToA page 64-65:




    of combat or social encounter.




    This doesn't break the entire campaign, but the encounter as written and changes the option for your players. Perhaps even limiting their agency if poorly played out.






    share|improve this answer











    $endgroup$













      Your Answer








      StackExchange.ready(function()
      var channelOptions =
      tags: "".split(" "),
      id: "122"
      ;
      initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

      StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
      // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
      if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
      StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
      createEditor();
      );

      else
      createEditor();

      );

      function createEditor()
      StackExchange.prepareEditor(
      heartbeatType: 'answer',
      autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
      convertImagesToLinks: false,
      noModals: true,
      showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
      reputationToPostImages: null,
      bindNavPrevention: true,
      postfix: "",
      imageUploader:
      brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
      contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
      allowUrls: true
      ,
      noCode: true, onDemand: true,
      discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
      ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
      );



      );













      draft saved

      draft discarded


















      StackExchange.ready(
      function ()
      StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2frpg.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f147567%2fdo-these-creatures-from-the-tomb-of-annihilation-campaign-speak-common%23new-answer', 'question_page');

      );

      Post as a guest















      Required, but never shown

























      3 Answers
      3






      active

      oldest

      votes








      3 Answers
      3






      active

      oldest

      votes









      active

      oldest

      votes






      active

      oldest

      votes









      20












      $begingroup$

      Winter Wolves can translate, if desired



      It is indeed possible for a Frost Giant to learn common (example: Harshnag from the Storm King's Thunder adventure)



      Also, I've read ToA completely, and found no instance where allowing some giants to know common will break a plot point. Conversely: plot points might be missed if the PCs cannot communicate with the Frost Giants.



      The adventure seems to indicate that the Frost Giants will converse with the PCs (with no mention that this will be in a language the PCs are unlikely to understand). Since this is presented as an intentional part of the scenario, it seems like the writers likely intended for at least one of the Giants (especially Drufi, the leader) to speak Common.



      Example - ToA p.64 says:




      Any character who succeeds on a DC 10 Wisdom (Insight) check quickly recognizes that Drufi's clumsy questions are...




      It does not mention needing to know Giant to make this roll. Other statements include




      she'll try to ferret out what, if anything, the characters know about... (ToA p.64)







      If they admit they've met him but can't (or won't) tell Drufi where he is, she has all the reason she needs to capture the characters and torture the information out of them. (ToA p.64)







      ... they might help characters who can provide useful information. They immediately attack characters who withhold information ... (ToA p.200)




      Regardless, their winter wolves speak both Common and Giant, so they could serve as translators if you decide that none of the Giants speak common (ToA doesn't mention this, so it doesn't seem like the writers intended it, but it's there in the Winter Wolf Stat block...).






      share|improve this answer











      $endgroup$

















        20












        $begingroup$

        Winter Wolves can translate, if desired



        It is indeed possible for a Frost Giant to learn common (example: Harshnag from the Storm King's Thunder adventure)



        Also, I've read ToA completely, and found no instance where allowing some giants to know common will break a plot point. Conversely: plot points might be missed if the PCs cannot communicate with the Frost Giants.



        The adventure seems to indicate that the Frost Giants will converse with the PCs (with no mention that this will be in a language the PCs are unlikely to understand). Since this is presented as an intentional part of the scenario, it seems like the writers likely intended for at least one of the Giants (especially Drufi, the leader) to speak Common.



        Example - ToA p.64 says:




        Any character who succeeds on a DC 10 Wisdom (Insight) check quickly recognizes that Drufi's clumsy questions are...




        It does not mention needing to know Giant to make this roll. Other statements include




        she'll try to ferret out what, if anything, the characters know about... (ToA p.64)







        If they admit they've met him but can't (or won't) tell Drufi where he is, she has all the reason she needs to capture the characters and torture the information out of them. (ToA p.64)







        ... they might help characters who can provide useful information. They immediately attack characters who withhold information ... (ToA p.200)




        Regardless, their winter wolves speak both Common and Giant, so they could serve as translators if you decide that none of the Giants speak common (ToA doesn't mention this, so it doesn't seem like the writers intended it, but it's there in the Winter Wolf Stat block...).






        share|improve this answer











        $endgroup$















          20












          20








          20





          $begingroup$

          Winter Wolves can translate, if desired



          It is indeed possible for a Frost Giant to learn common (example: Harshnag from the Storm King's Thunder adventure)



          Also, I've read ToA completely, and found no instance where allowing some giants to know common will break a plot point. Conversely: plot points might be missed if the PCs cannot communicate with the Frost Giants.



          The adventure seems to indicate that the Frost Giants will converse with the PCs (with no mention that this will be in a language the PCs are unlikely to understand). Since this is presented as an intentional part of the scenario, it seems like the writers likely intended for at least one of the Giants (especially Drufi, the leader) to speak Common.



          Example - ToA p.64 says:




          Any character who succeeds on a DC 10 Wisdom (Insight) check quickly recognizes that Drufi's clumsy questions are...




          It does not mention needing to know Giant to make this roll. Other statements include




          she'll try to ferret out what, if anything, the characters know about... (ToA p.64)







          If they admit they've met him but can't (or won't) tell Drufi where he is, she has all the reason she needs to capture the characters and torture the information out of them. (ToA p.64)







          ... they might help characters who can provide useful information. They immediately attack characters who withhold information ... (ToA p.200)




          Regardless, their winter wolves speak both Common and Giant, so they could serve as translators if you decide that none of the Giants speak common (ToA doesn't mention this, so it doesn't seem like the writers intended it, but it's there in the Winter Wolf Stat block...).






          share|improve this answer











          $endgroup$



          Winter Wolves can translate, if desired



          It is indeed possible for a Frost Giant to learn common (example: Harshnag from the Storm King's Thunder adventure)



          Also, I've read ToA completely, and found no instance where allowing some giants to know common will break a plot point. Conversely: plot points might be missed if the PCs cannot communicate with the Frost Giants.



          The adventure seems to indicate that the Frost Giants will converse with the PCs (with no mention that this will be in a language the PCs are unlikely to understand). Since this is presented as an intentional part of the scenario, it seems like the writers likely intended for at least one of the Giants (especially Drufi, the leader) to speak Common.



          Example - ToA p.64 says:




          Any character who succeeds on a DC 10 Wisdom (Insight) check quickly recognizes that Drufi's clumsy questions are...




          It does not mention needing to know Giant to make this roll. Other statements include




          she'll try to ferret out what, if anything, the characters know about... (ToA p.64)







          If they admit they've met him but can't (or won't) tell Drufi where he is, she has all the reason she needs to capture the characters and torture the information out of them. (ToA p.64)







          ... they might help characters who can provide useful information. They immediately attack characters who withhold information ... (ToA p.200)




          Regardless, their winter wolves speak both Common and Giant, so they could serve as translators if you decide that none of the Giants speak common (ToA doesn't mention this, so it doesn't seem like the writers intended it, but it's there in the Winter Wolf Stat block...).







          share|improve this answer














          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer








          edited 2 days ago









          V2Blast

          29.1k5105177




          29.1k5105177










          answered May 7 at 13:58









          Matt VincentMatt Vincent

          8,23021947




          8,23021947























              1












              $begingroup$

              Both by RAW and Probably Intention They Normally Cannot



              Obviously the Stat Block says what the Stat Block says. However we can find a bit more possible evidence of intention in the introduction to another official module (flagged as spoiler because we are trying to hide the creature, not because it is a spoiler for the other module):




              We can look at the very first paragraph of the introduction to the Storm King's Thunder module, which shared some of the same design team.




              On page 7 it says:




              Because giants figure prominently in the story, at least one character
              should be able to speak and understand the Giant language.




              Obviously this is not a definitive statement on the subject, but it indicates that WotC (or at least someone there) intends for the monolingual limitations of this creature to at least sometimes provide actual encounter or story challenges. This is an assumed game mechanic mentioned in the very first paragraph of this other official WotC module, so it is probably more likely to be an indication of general WotC philosophy towards this creature's linguistic skills interacting with players as anything we are going to get.



              Changing This is Very Unlikely to Break Your Game



              Only a very poorly designed module would require not being able to communicate with a creature such as this one.



              This is because some player characters will actually speak this creature's language, either as a language they chose in character creation or as a racial ability. If the party not being able to communicate with them was central to the adventure then this would be a serious oversight. Similarly there are magic abilities which allow various sorts of communication through unknown languages, which once again is going to potentially break anything which hinges on them not speaking common.



              In the end it is the DM's choice. It eliminates a potential limitation for some parties, but it is a limitation that would frequently be absent anyway, so it can hardly break any well designed module. It is likely an intentional limitation, but not necessarily one you are interested in featuring.






              share|improve this answer











              $endgroup$








              • 2




                $begingroup$
                Can you provide more context on why a statement in one module applies to another?
                $endgroup$
                – NautArch
                May 7 at 18:13















              1












              $begingroup$

              Both by RAW and Probably Intention They Normally Cannot



              Obviously the Stat Block says what the Stat Block says. However we can find a bit more possible evidence of intention in the introduction to another official module (flagged as spoiler because we are trying to hide the creature, not because it is a spoiler for the other module):




              We can look at the very first paragraph of the introduction to the Storm King's Thunder module, which shared some of the same design team.




              On page 7 it says:




              Because giants figure prominently in the story, at least one character
              should be able to speak and understand the Giant language.




              Obviously this is not a definitive statement on the subject, but it indicates that WotC (or at least someone there) intends for the monolingual limitations of this creature to at least sometimes provide actual encounter or story challenges. This is an assumed game mechanic mentioned in the very first paragraph of this other official WotC module, so it is probably more likely to be an indication of general WotC philosophy towards this creature's linguistic skills interacting with players as anything we are going to get.



              Changing This is Very Unlikely to Break Your Game



              Only a very poorly designed module would require not being able to communicate with a creature such as this one.



              This is because some player characters will actually speak this creature's language, either as a language they chose in character creation or as a racial ability. If the party not being able to communicate with them was central to the adventure then this would be a serious oversight. Similarly there are magic abilities which allow various sorts of communication through unknown languages, which once again is going to potentially break anything which hinges on them not speaking common.



              In the end it is the DM's choice. It eliminates a potential limitation for some parties, but it is a limitation that would frequently be absent anyway, so it can hardly break any well designed module. It is likely an intentional limitation, but not necessarily one you are interested in featuring.






              share|improve this answer











              $endgroup$








              • 2




                $begingroup$
                Can you provide more context on why a statement in one module applies to another?
                $endgroup$
                – NautArch
                May 7 at 18:13













              1












              1








              1





              $begingroup$

              Both by RAW and Probably Intention They Normally Cannot



              Obviously the Stat Block says what the Stat Block says. However we can find a bit more possible evidence of intention in the introduction to another official module (flagged as spoiler because we are trying to hide the creature, not because it is a spoiler for the other module):




              We can look at the very first paragraph of the introduction to the Storm King's Thunder module, which shared some of the same design team.




              On page 7 it says:




              Because giants figure prominently in the story, at least one character
              should be able to speak and understand the Giant language.




              Obviously this is not a definitive statement on the subject, but it indicates that WotC (or at least someone there) intends for the monolingual limitations of this creature to at least sometimes provide actual encounter or story challenges. This is an assumed game mechanic mentioned in the very first paragraph of this other official WotC module, so it is probably more likely to be an indication of general WotC philosophy towards this creature's linguistic skills interacting with players as anything we are going to get.



              Changing This is Very Unlikely to Break Your Game



              Only a very poorly designed module would require not being able to communicate with a creature such as this one.



              This is because some player characters will actually speak this creature's language, either as a language they chose in character creation or as a racial ability. If the party not being able to communicate with them was central to the adventure then this would be a serious oversight. Similarly there are magic abilities which allow various sorts of communication through unknown languages, which once again is going to potentially break anything which hinges on them not speaking common.



              In the end it is the DM's choice. It eliminates a potential limitation for some parties, but it is a limitation that would frequently be absent anyway, so it can hardly break any well designed module. It is likely an intentional limitation, but not necessarily one you are interested in featuring.






              share|improve this answer











              $endgroup$



              Both by RAW and Probably Intention They Normally Cannot



              Obviously the Stat Block says what the Stat Block says. However we can find a bit more possible evidence of intention in the introduction to another official module (flagged as spoiler because we are trying to hide the creature, not because it is a spoiler for the other module):




              We can look at the very first paragraph of the introduction to the Storm King's Thunder module, which shared some of the same design team.




              On page 7 it says:




              Because giants figure prominently in the story, at least one character
              should be able to speak and understand the Giant language.




              Obviously this is not a definitive statement on the subject, but it indicates that WotC (or at least someone there) intends for the monolingual limitations of this creature to at least sometimes provide actual encounter or story challenges. This is an assumed game mechanic mentioned in the very first paragraph of this other official WotC module, so it is probably more likely to be an indication of general WotC philosophy towards this creature's linguistic skills interacting with players as anything we are going to get.



              Changing This is Very Unlikely to Break Your Game



              Only a very poorly designed module would require not being able to communicate with a creature such as this one.



              This is because some player characters will actually speak this creature's language, either as a language they chose in character creation or as a racial ability. If the party not being able to communicate with them was central to the adventure then this would be a serious oversight. Similarly there are magic abilities which allow various sorts of communication through unknown languages, which once again is going to potentially break anything which hinges on them not speaking common.



              In the end it is the DM's choice. It eliminates a potential limitation for some parties, but it is a limitation that would frequently be absent anyway, so it can hardly break any well designed module. It is likely an intentional limitation, but not necessarily one you are interested in featuring.







              share|improve this answer














              share|improve this answer



              share|improve this answer








              edited May 7 at 18:33

























              answered May 7 at 17:55









              Benjamin OlsonBenjamin Olson

              1,31418




              1,31418







              • 2




                $begingroup$
                Can you provide more context on why a statement in one module applies to another?
                $endgroup$
                – NautArch
                May 7 at 18:13












              • 2




                $begingroup$
                Can you provide more context on why a statement in one module applies to another?
                $endgroup$
                – NautArch
                May 7 at 18:13







              2




              2




              $begingroup$
              Can you provide more context on why a statement in one module applies to another?
              $endgroup$
              – NautArch
              May 7 at 18:13




              $begingroup$
              Can you provide more context on why a statement in one module applies to another?
              $endgroup$
              – NautArch
              May 7 at 18:13











              1












              $begingroup$

              They do not speak Common. It would have ramifications on a plotline.



              See their Stat Block:




              Languages: Giant




              You would currently break the methods that solve the encounter by providing a solution that




              reveals intentions of the Frost Giants if the Winter Wolves aren't present (because you tried to separate the Giants from the Wolves or similar approaches).




              The ramifications of this are that you would not be able to




              gather information about the Ring of Winter that the giants seek.




              Choosing to grant the creatures the Common language may quickly solve the aspect of an ambush by a murder-hobo party or similar threats which would result in




              a combat encounter instead of a social encounter.




              On the behaviour and interaction, see ToA page 64-65:




              of combat or social encounter.




              This doesn't break the entire campaign, but the encounter as written and changes the option for your players. Perhaps even limiting their agency if poorly played out.






              share|improve this answer











              $endgroup$

















                1












                $begingroup$

                They do not speak Common. It would have ramifications on a plotline.



                See their Stat Block:




                Languages: Giant




                You would currently break the methods that solve the encounter by providing a solution that




                reveals intentions of the Frost Giants if the Winter Wolves aren't present (because you tried to separate the Giants from the Wolves or similar approaches).




                The ramifications of this are that you would not be able to




                gather information about the Ring of Winter that the giants seek.




                Choosing to grant the creatures the Common language may quickly solve the aspect of an ambush by a murder-hobo party or similar threats which would result in




                a combat encounter instead of a social encounter.




                On the behaviour and interaction, see ToA page 64-65:




                of combat or social encounter.




                This doesn't break the entire campaign, but the encounter as written and changes the option for your players. Perhaps even limiting their agency if poorly played out.






                share|improve this answer











                $endgroup$















                  1












                  1








                  1





                  $begingroup$

                  They do not speak Common. It would have ramifications on a plotline.



                  See their Stat Block:




                  Languages: Giant




                  You would currently break the methods that solve the encounter by providing a solution that




                  reveals intentions of the Frost Giants if the Winter Wolves aren't present (because you tried to separate the Giants from the Wolves or similar approaches).




                  The ramifications of this are that you would not be able to




                  gather information about the Ring of Winter that the giants seek.




                  Choosing to grant the creatures the Common language may quickly solve the aspect of an ambush by a murder-hobo party or similar threats which would result in




                  a combat encounter instead of a social encounter.




                  On the behaviour and interaction, see ToA page 64-65:




                  of combat or social encounter.




                  This doesn't break the entire campaign, but the encounter as written and changes the option for your players. Perhaps even limiting their agency if poorly played out.






                  share|improve this answer











                  $endgroup$



                  They do not speak Common. It would have ramifications on a plotline.



                  See their Stat Block:




                  Languages: Giant




                  You would currently break the methods that solve the encounter by providing a solution that




                  reveals intentions of the Frost Giants if the Winter Wolves aren't present (because you tried to separate the Giants from the Wolves or similar approaches).




                  The ramifications of this are that you would not be able to




                  gather information about the Ring of Winter that the giants seek.




                  Choosing to grant the creatures the Common language may quickly solve the aspect of an ambush by a murder-hobo party or similar threats which would result in




                  a combat encounter instead of a social encounter.




                  On the behaviour and interaction, see ToA page 64-65:




                  of combat or social encounter.




                  This doesn't break the entire campaign, but the encounter as written and changes the option for your players. Perhaps even limiting their agency if poorly played out.







                  share|improve this answer














                  share|improve this answer



                  share|improve this answer








                  edited May 7 at 19:10









                  V2Blast

                  29.1k5105177




                  29.1k5105177










                  answered May 7 at 19:03









                  AkixkisuAkixkisu

                  1,475220




                  1,475220



























                      draft saved

                      draft discarded
















































                      Thanks for contributing an answer to Role-playing Games Stack Exchange!


                      • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                      But avoid


                      • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                      • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.

                      Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


                      To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




                      draft saved


                      draft discarded














                      StackExchange.ready(
                      function ()
                      StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2frpg.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f147567%2fdo-these-creatures-from-the-tomb-of-annihilation-campaign-speak-common%23new-answer', 'question_page');

                      );

                      Post as a guest















                      Required, but never shown





















































                      Required, but never shown














                      Required, but never shown












                      Required, but never shown







                      Required, but never shown

































                      Required, but never shown














                      Required, but never shown












                      Required, but never shown







                      Required, but never shown







                      Popular posts from this blog

                      Get product attribute by attribute group code in magento 2get product attribute by product attribute group in magento 2Magento 2 Log Bundle Product Data in List Page?How to get all product attribute of a attribute group of Default attribute set?Magento 2.1 Create a filter in the product grid by new attributeMagento 2 : Get Product Attribute values By GroupMagento 2 How to get all existing values for one attributeMagento 2 get custom attribute of a single product inside a pluginMagento 2.3 How to get all the Multi Source Inventory (MSI) locations collection in custom module?Magento2: how to develop rest API to get new productsGet product attribute by attribute group code ( [attribute_group_code] ) in magento 2

                      Category:9 (number) SubcategoriesMedia in category "9 (number)"Navigation menuUpload mediaGND ID: 4485639-8Library of Congress authority ID: sh85091979ReasonatorScholiaStatistics

                      Magento 2.3: How do i solve this, Not registered handle, on custom form?How can i rewrite TierPrice Block in Magento2magento 2 captcha not rendering if I override layout xmlmain.CRITICAL: Plugin class doesn't existMagento 2 : Problem while adding custom button order view page?Magento 2.2.5: Overriding Admin Controller sales/orderMagento 2.2.5: Add, Update and Delete existing products Custom OptionsMagento 2.3 : File Upload issue in UI Component FormMagento2 Not registered handleHow to configured Form Builder Js in my custom magento 2.3.0 module?Magento 2.3. How to create image upload field in an admin form